Repercussions continue to pour down for the post-fight brawl between Wanderlei Silva, Acelino Freitas and members of their teams at Spaten Fight Night 2 on Saturday night in São Paulo, Brazil.
Silva, 49, was disqualified from Saturday’s exhibition match against former boxing champion Freitas, 50, for throwing illegal repeated strikes. The result instantly ignited chaos, as members of each team stormed into the ring to exchange blows, with the MMA legend and UFC Hall of Famer taking the worst of the breakdown when he was brutally knocked unconscious by a punch thrown by Freitas’ son, Rafael.
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As first reported by MMA Fighting, the Brazilian National Boxing Council (CNB) announced Tuesday that Silva and Freitas have both been handed 180-day suspensions and are banned from any event sanctioned by the council. CNB stated that it will notify other commissions of the suspensions.
Rafael Freitas, the culprit of the punch that knocked out Silva, has not been suspended due to the fact that he was only at Saturday’s event in a spectator role, as opposed to being an officially licensed cornerman for his father. Instead, CNB issued an official recommendation that Freitas be banned indefinitely from future boxing events.
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Other members of the brawl included Silva’s longtime coach Andre Dida, who received the worst of the punishments; Dida was dealt a one-year suspension for landing two clean punches to the face of Acelino Freitas. Additionally, two of Silva’s cornermen — former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and Silva’s son Thor — threw punches in the brawl, but were in similar positions as Rafael Freitas; both Werdum and the younger Silva are unable to be suspended since they were not licensed by CNB.
On Freitas’ side of the turmoil, the boxer’s cornermen Luis Claudio Freitas and Iago Gutierrez Freitas also received 180-day bans, while Lucas Pontes da Silva received a 90-day suspension.
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Speaking on the incident this week, Silva and Werdum stated that the former PRIDE FC champion was hospitalized for several hours after the knockout and suffered a nose fracture.
Prior to Spaten Fight Night 2, Silva hadn’t competed in any formal capacity as a combat sports athlete since losing his final MMA bout in 2018 with Bellator.
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In 2024, Silva wrote a letter in support of the UFC antitrust settlement that revealed multiple severe health issues created from his fight career.
“I fear that during my career I have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and am noticing symptoms common with TBI and CTE including depression, mood swings, and irritability.
“I suffer from sleep apnea and have difficulty sleeping and breathing. That I can recall, I have had four surgeries on my nose, one on my face, two on my left knee, one on my right knee and one on my elbow.”
A badly bruised Silva said Sunday in a social media statement that he plans to undergo “more detailed exams” this coming week to determine whether he has more serious head trauma.
